Espresso in your car courtesy of Fiat

Customers who buy the new 2013 Fiat 500L crossover can opt to include a built-in espresso machine from Lavazza, Italy's favorite coffee. Imagine this perfectly integrated espresso maker churning away to make fresh brews while you drive.

When your passenger remarks on the lovely smell in the car, you can say "Here. Say hello to my little frien" and not be referencing a 12-guage.

The machine comes Fiat-branded with the Lavazza logo and matching cups. According to Fiat, the espresso maker is "perfectly integrated into the car with a deck designed expressly by Fiat."

Wouldn't that be "espressly?" OK, maybe not.

The 500L is the four-door version of the tiny 500 and is being billed as a crossover by the company. It will include some Chrysler additions such as the Beats Audio system from Dr. Dre (currently in the Chrysler 300). In styling, think of a stretched 500 that looks suspiciously like a Mini Cooper, but with better paint. This Italian car is actually being built in Serbia and will come to the U.S. as a 2013 model (welcome to the new global auto industry), though whether or not the Starbucks of Italy espresso machine will be an option is still uncertain.

So, back to in-car espresso:

“Finally, another world premiere is the brand new coffee machine created in collaboration with Lavazza. The 500L is the first standard-production car in the world to offer a true espresso coffee machine that utilises the technology of the ‘A Modo Mio’ pods. It is perfectly integrated in the car with a deck designed expressly by Fiat.”

So in 20 years, will Fiat be remembered as the brand that introduced in-car espresso to the world? If so, will that be in a good "Cadillac electric starter" kind of way or in a bad "Ford Pinto exploding" kind of way? You be the judge.